Dear forever 21,
For many
years you were my favorite store. The store I bought all my clothing because of
the awesome styles, and your prices are pretty reasonable. But recently, the
past few times I have gone, I have left feeling disappointed, angry, and full
of self-hate. Why you ask? Because your sizing’s are ridiculously inaccurate. I
have struggled with severe Anorexia for 13 years, and I still fall under the “underweight”
category according to my BMI, Body fat percentages, and also according to blood
work results, and other medical signs. If I go to any store, I typically will
fit into a 0 or 1. This past weekend, I went
to your store, in search of some shorts, and to my disbelief, I had to buy a
LARGE! My body instantly filled with the feelings of anxiety, depression, self-hatred,
disgust, and many other negative emotions. I started to break down in tears in
the dressing room. How could I have gotten this fat? I know that I have
negative self-image, and I don’t see my body as others, but that stupid, itchy
piece of fabric with the word LARGE confirmed my biggest fear, that I was
indeed large, and overweight.
After a
few hours, my feelings switched to anger. Anger that young girls shop in this
store with these false labels. I have had an eating disorder since the age of
10, and if someone is pre disposed to develop one, something as simple as
inaccurate sizing can pull the trigger. As
soon as I got back to my hotel, I put on these shorts and took a few pictures,
hoping that maybe I could see myself accurately, or was I truly “large.”
After multiple times of going back in forth to the pictures,
and comparing myself to girls online who were a size large from other stores, I
slowly started to realize that I didn’t look like them. So why was it that a
zero or one at your store doesn’t fit, but another store that sells juniors
clothing does?
Here are the pictures I took of myself:
Does someone who wears a size large have their ribs sticking
out like in the picture above? Or a good foot in between their thighs? For
someone who is already in a dangerous spot, this can fuel someone to take it
even farther. I would do anything to prevent anyone from developing an eating
disorder. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. This is why I am reaching
out. We need to stop selling these unhealthy unrealistic sizes for people that
would only fit in if they were 10 years old. This is a junior’s store, and
young adults. Not justice, or the children’s place. It is only by the grace of
God that I am still alive today, and if I can save anyone with my story, or
this article, you bet your but I will try my damn hardest. Because eating
disorders are deadly, 23 people EVERYDAY die. And by stores like you selling
inaccurate sizes, you are not helping this statistic.
